On user equipment uplink latency in wireless communications

ABSTRACT

Examples pertaining to improvement on user equipment (UE) uplink latency in wireless communications are described. When an apparatus is in a special mode, a processor of the apparatus transmits to a network a request for permission to perform an uplink (UL) transmission for a plurality of times. The processor then receives from the network a grant. In response to receiving the grant, the processor performs the UL transmission to the network. In transmitting the request for the plurality of times, the processor transmits the request for the plurality of times at a frequency higher than a frequency at which the request to perform UL transmissions is transmitted to the network when the apparatus is in a normal operational mode.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION(S)

The present disclosure is part of a non-provisional application claimingthe priority benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 62/757,242, filed on8 Nov. 2018, and the present disclosure also claims the priority benefitof China Patent Application No. 201910892447.7, filed on 20 Sep. 2019.Contents of aforementioned applications are herein incorporated byreference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to mobile communicationsand, more particularly, to improvement on user equipment (UE) uplinklatency in wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, approaches described in this sectionare not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted asprior art by inclusion in this section.

Under the 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications, aUE sends one or more scheduling requests (SRs) to a base station (e.g.,eNB or gNB) when there is uplink (UL) traffic (e.g., data packets) to betransmitted by the UE. In response, the base station replies with an ULgrant for the UE to transmit the UL traffic. However, there is typicallya delay between the time the UE sends the SR(s) and the time the UEreceives the UL grant and, hence, there is usually a latency associatedwith UL traffic transmission.

To shorten the latency, one approach would be to make improvement on thenetwork side with a short cut with respect to forwarding traffic forpacket transmission. Alternatively, another approach would be for thenetwork to recognize the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card of a UEand provide low-latency mode for that UE. Nevertheless, such approacheswould require support from the internet service provider (ISP), whichcan be costly for the end user.

SUMMARY

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to belimiting in any way. That is, the following summary is provided tointroduce concepts, highlights, benefits and advantages of the novel andnon-obvious techniques described herein. Select implementations arefurther described below in the detailed description. Thus, the followingsummary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimedsubject matter, nor is it intended for use in determining the scope ofthe claimed subject matter.

An objective of the present disclosure aims to provide schemes,solutions, concepts, designs, methods and systems pertaining toimprovement on UE uplink latency in wireless communications. Inparticular, the present disclosure aims to provide cost-effectivesolutions to achieve improvement on UE uplink latency in wirelesscommunications.

In one aspect, a method may involve a processor of an apparatus in aspecial mode transmitting, to a network, a request for permission toperform an UL transmission for a plurality of times. The method may alsoinvolve the processor receiving, from the network, a grant. The methodmay further involve the processor performing the UL transmission to thenetwork in response to receiving the grant. In transmitting the requestfor the plurality of times, the method may involve the processortransmitting the request for the plurality of times at a frequencyhigher than a frequency at which the request to perform UL transmissionsis transmitted to the network when the apparatus is in a normaloperational mode.

In another aspect, a method may involve a processor of an apparatus in aspecial mode transmitting, to a network, a request for permission toperform an UL transmission for a plurality of times. The method may alsoinvolve the processor receiving, from the network, a grant. The methodmay further involve the processor performing the UL transmission to thenetwork in response to receiving the grant. In transmitting the requestfor the plurality of times, the method may involve the processortransmitting the request for the plurality of times at a frequencyhigher than a frequency at which the request to perform UL transmissionsis transmitted to the network when the apparatus is in a normaloperational mode. The special mode may be an event-triggered mode. Intransmitting the request in the event-triggered mode, the method mayinvolve the processor performing operations including: (i) receivinginformation from one or more information sources associated with theapparatus; (ii) predicting, based on the received information, a need toperform the UL transmission; and (iii) transmitting the request for theplurality of times in response to the predicting.

In yet another aspect, an apparatus may include a processor which,during operation, may perform certain operations including: (i)transmitting, when the apparatus is in a special mode, to a network arequest for permission to perform an UL transmission for a plurality oftimes; (ii) receiving from the network a grant; and (iii) performing theUL transmission to the network in response to receiving the grant. Intransmitting the request for the plurality of times, the processor maytransmit the request for the plurality of times at a frequency higherthan a frequency at which the request for perform to perform ULtransmissions is transmitted to the network when the apparatus is in anormal operational mode.

It is noteworthy that, although description provided herein may be inthe context of certain radio access technologies, networks and networktopologies such as 5th Generation (5G) and New Radio (NR), the proposedconcepts, schemes and any variation(s)/derivative(s) thereof may beimplemented in, for and by other types of radio access technologies,networks and network topologies such as, for example and withoutlimitation, LTE, LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro, UMTS and GSM. Thus, thescope of the present disclosure is not limited to the examples describedherein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute apart of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrate implementationsof the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explainthe principles of the disclosure. It is appreciable that the drawingsare not necessarily in scale as some components may be shown to be outof proportion than the size in actual implementation in order to clearlyillustrate the concept of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example scenario in which a proposed scheme inaccordance with the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example scenario in which a proposed scheme inaccordance with the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example scenario in which a proposed scheme inaccordance with the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example communication apparatus and anexample network apparatus in accordance with an implementation of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example process in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an example process in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED IMPLEMENTATIONS

Detailed embodiments and implementations of the claimed subject mattersare disclosed herein. However, it shall be understood that the disclosedembodiments and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimedsubject matters which may be embodied in various forms. The presentdisclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and shouldnot be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments andimplementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodimentsand implementations are provided so that description of the presentdisclosure is thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope ofthe present disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the descriptionbelow, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted toavoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments andimplementations.

Overview

Implementations in accordance with the present disclosure relate tovarious techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions pertaining toimprovement on UE uplink latency in wireless communications. Accordingto the present disclosure, a number of possible solutions may beimplemented separately or jointly. That is, although these possiblesolutions may be described below separately, two or more of thesepossible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another.

Under various schemes proposed in the present disclosure, latency ofnetwork traffic between a UE and a base station may be shortened orotherwise improved. The term “latency” herein refers to the lapse intime between the time data for uplink transmission arrives at layer 2(L2) of a UE and the time of uplink transmission of such data. Under theproposed schemes, the UE may transmit a scheduling request (SR) or anon-zero buffer status report (BSR) to the base station in advancebefore the UE actually has data packets queued up for UL transmission tothe base station. In particular, when in an event-triggered mode, the UEmay transmit an SR and/or a non-zero BSR to the base station uponoccurrence of any of a number of predefined events such as, for exampleand without limitation, detection of a touch of a screen of the UE,activation of or performing of an operation by a gyroscope of the UE,activation of or performing of an operation by an accelerometer of theUE, detection of a press of a key on the UE, receiving of an input byanother device of the UE, detection of an occurrence of a hardware eventwith respect to a hardware of the UE, and detection of an occurrence ofa software flow with respect to a software executed on the UE.Additionally, when in a forced mode, the UE may keep transmitting (e.g.,continuously or periodically) SRs and/or non-zero BSRs to the basestation even when the UE is not aware of any user data available for ULtransmission. The timing of the forced mode may be configured withtimeout or receive start/stop event(s). Moreover, when in a backgroundmode, the UE may transmit an SR or a non-zero BSR whenever the UE isaware of data packets available for UL transmission. The background modedoes not rely on control of SR/BSR directly, yet the UE may transmit SRsand/or BSRs rather often and real traffic may benefit from thisbehavior. The aim for this kind of background traffic is to improve thelatency on purpose regardless of the size and interval or usage of thedata packets to be transmitted. Accordingly, the background mode may beconfigured as a default mode in which the UE operates.

Under a proposed scheme, there may be a mechanism to handle predictionmiss for both the event-triggered mode and forced mode. Under theproposed scheme, when an UL grant is received from the base stationwhile there is no data for UL transmission, the UE may still transmitsome information for UL traffic. For example, the UE may transmit modemmedium access control (MAC) padding, which may be configured as afrequency-based transmission parameter or a threshold configuration. Asanother example, the UE may transmit modem layer 2 (L2) control data,retransmission data or an invalid protocol data unit (PDU). As yetanother example, the UE may transmit real networking dummy data such as,for example and without limitation, private Internet Protocol (IP)address data which would be dropped by any router upon receipt, an IPpacket data designated for a predetermined IP address or a random IPaddress, with a time-to-live (TTL) value of the IP packet data less thana predefined TTL value, or a service data designated for a predeterminedor specific server.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example scenario 100 in which a proposed scheme inaccordance with the present disclosure may be implemented. Forcomparison and to aid better appreciation of advantages and benefitsassociated with the proposed scheme, part (A) of FIG. 1 illustrates aconventional approach while part (B) of FIG. 1 illustrates scenario 100according to the proposed scheme.

Referring to part (A) of FIG. 1, under the conventional approach, thedefault behavior of a UE is to transmit an SR and/or BSR when there isuser data available for UL transmission (e.g., by the user data arrivingat layer 2 of a modem of the UE). Under the conventional approach, timeslots for transmission of SRs are typically pre-arranged. For instance,the duration between the transmission of two adjacent SRs is typically20 milliseconds (ms). Once the UE transmits an SR, a base station maykeep sending UL grants to the UE until the UE transmits a zero BSR (withvalue=0 in the BSR).

Referring to part (B) of FIG. 1, under the proposed scheme for UEbehavior in an event-triggered mode, upon detection of any one of aplurality of predefined trigger events (e.g., touch of a touch-sensingscreen of the UE or launch of a game app on the UE), a predictionindication may be provided to layer 2 (MAC layer) of the modem of the UE(through the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer and the RadioLink Control (RLC) layer) for early preparation of UL transmissionresource(s). As a result, the UE may transmit an SR to the base stationto request for permission for UL transmission, and this may occur beforearrival of packet(s) of user data at layer 2 for UL transmission. Oncean UL grant is received from the base station, the UE may perform ULtransmission of the packet(s) of user data with a short latency betweenthe time of arrival of data for UL transmission at layer 2 and the timeof UL transmission of such data due to early preparation of ULtransmission resource(s).

FIG. 2 illustrates an example scenario 200 in which a proposed scheme inaccordance with the present disclosure may be implemented. Forcomparison and to aid better appreciation of advantages and benefitsassociated with the proposed scheme, part (A) of FIG. 2 illustrates aconventional approach while part (B) of FIG. 2 illustrates scenario 200according to the proposed scheme.

Referring to part (A) of FIG. 2, under the conventional approach, thedefault behavior of a UE is to transmit an SR and/or BSR when there isuser data available for UL transmission (e.g., by the user data arrivingat layer 2 of a modem of the UE). Under the conventional approach, timeslots for transmission of SRs are typically pre-arranged. Once the UEtransmits an SR, a base station may keep sending UL grants to the UEuntil the UE transmits a zero BSR (with value=0 in the BSR).

Referring to part (B) of FIG. 2, under the proposed scheme for UEbehavior in a forced mode, the UE may operate in the forced mode(denoted as “forced mode ON” in FIG. 2) for a period of time and out ofthe forced mode (denoted as “forced mode OFF” in FIG. 2) for anotherperiod of time, and so on. When in the forced mode, layer 2 of the modemof the UE may always prepare UL transmission resource(s) even when thereis no data available for UL transmission. As a result, the UE may stilltransmit an SR to the base station to request for permission for ULtransmission even when there is no data available for UL transmission.In response, the UE may continuously or periodically receive UL grantsfrom the base station. Consequently, as user data for UL transmissionbecomes available (e.g., user data arriving at layer 2 of the modem),the UE may perform UL transmission of packet(s) of user data with ashort latency between the time of arrival of data for UL transmission atlayer 2 and the time of UL transmission of such data due to earlypreparation of UL transmission resource(s). At some point in time, theUE may exit the forced mode and, accordingly, the UE may stoppreparation of UL transmission resource(s) as well as transmission ofSRs/BSRs when there is no data for UL transmission.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example scenario 300 in which a proposed scheme inaccordance with the present disclosure may be implemented. Forcomparison and to aid better appreciation of advantages and benefitsassociated with the proposed scheme, part (A) of FIG. 3 illustrates aconventional approach while part (B) of FIG. 3 illustrates scenario 300according to the proposed scheme. It is noteworthy that, for simplicity,the examples shown in FIG. 3 are provided in the context of a touch of atouch-sensing screen by a user in connection with a game app on the UE,although the proposed scheme may be applied to other scenarios andcontexts.

Referring to part (A) of FIG. 3, under the conventional approach, as atouch event (e.g., touching of a touch-sensing screen of a UE by a user)is detected, a game app on the UE may be launched. Accordingly, anindication of the launch of the game app is provided to a network socketof the UE which, in turn, notifies a modem of the UE. The modem thentransmits an SR to a base station to request for permission for ULtransmission.

Referring to part (B) of FIG. 3, a result of the detection of the touchevent may also be provided to a prediction engine or control unit(denoted as “prediction engine” in FIG. 3) in a processor of the UE forprediction behavior on the part of the UE under the event-triggeredmode, forced mode, or background mode as described above. Moreover, anindication of the launch of the game app may also be provided to theprediction engine or control unit for prediction behavior on the part ofthe UE under the event-triggered mode, forced mode, or background modeas described above. Furthermore, the network socket may also inform theprediction engine or control unit for prediction behavior on the part ofthe UE under the event-triggered mode, forced mode, or background modeas described above. That is, one, some or all of the event-triggeredmode, forced mode, and background mode as described above may beutilized or otherwise implemented in the UE at any given time.

Illustrative Implementations

FIG. 4 illustrates an example communication environment 400 having anexample apparatus 410 and an example apparatus 420 in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure. Each of apparatus 410 andapparatus 420 may perform various functions to implement schemes,techniques, processes and methods described herein pertaining toimprovement on UE uplink latency in wireless communications, includingvarious schemes described above as well as processes 500 and 600described below.

Each of apparatus 410 and apparatus 420 may be a part of an electronicapparatus, which may be a UE such as a portable or mobile apparatus, awearable apparatus, a wireless communication apparatus or a computingapparatus. For instance, each of apparatus 410 and apparatus 420 may beimplemented in a smartphone, a smartwatch, a personal digital assistant,a digital camera, or a computing equipment such as a tablet computer, alaptop computer or a notebook computer. Each of apparatus 410 andapparatus 420 may also be a part of a machine type apparatus, which maybe an IoT or NB-IoT apparatus such as an immobile or a stationaryapparatus, a home apparatus, a wire communication apparatus or acomputing apparatus. For instance, each of apparatus 410 and apparatus420 may be implemented in a smart thermostat, a smart fridge, a smartdoor lock, a wireless speaker or a home control center. Alternatively,each of apparatus 410 and apparatus 420 may be implemented in the formof one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chips such as, for example andwithout limitation, one or more single-core processors, one or moremulti-core processors, or one or more complex-instruction-set-computing(CISC) processors. Each of apparatus 410 and apparatus 420 may includeat least some of those components shown in FIG. 4 such as a processor412 and a processor 422, respectively. Each of apparatus 410 andapparatus 420 may further include one or more other components notpertinent to the proposed scheme of the present disclosure (e.g.,internal power supply, display device and/or user interface device),and, thus, such component(s) of each of apparatus 410 and apparatus 420are neither shown in FIG. 4 nor described below in the interest ofsimplicity and brevity.

In some implementations, at least one of apparatus 410 and apparatus 420may be a part of an electronic apparatus, which may be a network node orbase station (e.g., eNB, gNB or transmit/receive point (TRP)), a smallcell, a router or a gateway. For instance, at least one of apparatus 410and apparatus 420 may be implemented in an eNodeB in an LTE,LTE-Advanced or LTE-Advanced Pro network, in a gNB in a 5G, NR, IoT orNB-IoT network, or in an access point in a wireless local area network(WLAN). Alternatively, at least one of apparatus 410 and apparatus 420may be implemented in the form of one or more IC chips such as, forexample and without limitation, one or more single-core processors, oneor more multi-core processors, or one or more CISC processors.

In one aspect, each of processor 412 and processor 422 may beimplemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one ormore multi-core processors, or one or more CISC processors. That is,even though a singular term “a processor” is used herein to refer toprocessor 412 and processor 422, each of processor 412 and processor 422may include multiple processors in some implementations and a singleprocessor in other implementations in accordance with the presentdisclosure. In another aspect, each of processor 412 and processor 422may be implemented in the form of hardware (and, optionally, firmware)with electronic components including, for example and withoutlimitation, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or morecapacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or morememristors and/or one or more varactors that are configured and arrangedto achieve specific purposes in accordance with the present disclosure.In other words, in at least some implementations, each of processor 412and processor 422 is a special-purpose machine specifically designed,arranged and configured to perform specific tasks includingimplementation of improvement on UE uplink latency in wirelesscommunications in accordance with various implementations of the presentdisclosure.

In some implementations, apparatus 410 may also include a transceiver416 coupled to processor 412 and capable of wirelessly transmitting andreceiving data. In some implementations, apparatus 410 may furtherinclude a memory 414 coupled to processor 412 and capable of beingaccessed by processor 412 and storing data therein. In someimplementations, apparatus 420 may also include a transceiver 426coupled to processor 422 and capable of wirelessly transmitting andreceiving data. In some implementations, apparatus 420 may furtherinclude a memory 424 coupled to processor 422 and capable of beingaccessed by processor 422 and storing data therein. Accordingly,apparatus 410 and apparatus 420 may wirelessly communicate with eachother via transceiver 416 and transceiver 426, respectively.

To aid better understanding, the following description of theoperations, functionalities and capabilities of each of apparatus 410and apparatus 420 is provided in the context of a mobile communicationenvironment in which apparatus 410 is implemented in or as a wirelesscommunication device, a communication apparatus or a UE and apparatus420 is implemented in or as a network node connected or otherwisecommunicatively coupled to a wireless network (e.g., a 5G NR mobilenetwork or LTE/LTE-Advanced/LTE-Advanced Pro mobile network).

In one aspect of improvement on UE uplink latency in wirelesscommunications, processor 412 of apparatus 410 as a UE may transmit, viatransceiver 416 and while apparatus 410 is in a special mode, to anetwork (e.g., via apparatus 420) a request for permission to perform anUL transmission for a plurality of times. For instance, processor 412may transmit the request for the plurality of times at a frequencyhigher than a frequency at which the request to perform UL transmissionsis transmitted to the network when apparatus 410 is in a normaloperational mode. Moreover, processor 412 may receive, via transceiver416, from the network (e.g., via apparatus 420) a grant for ULtransmission. Furthermore, processor 412 may perform, via transceiver416, the UL transmission to the network (e.g., via apparatus 420) inresponse to receiving the grant.

In some implementations, in transmitting the request, processor 412 maytransmit a scheduling request (SR).

In some implementations, in transmitting the request, processor 412 maytransmit a non-zero buffer status report (BSR).

In some implementations, the special mode may be a forced mode. In suchcases, in transmitting the request in the forced mode, processor 412 mayperform certain operations. For instance, processor 412 may enter theforced mode. Additionally, processor 412 may continuously transmit therequest for the plurality of times while in the forced mode withoutknowledge of any user data available for the UL transmission. Moreover,processor 412 may exit, in response to an occurrence of any of aplurality of predefined events, the forced mode to stop the continuouslytransmitting of the request. In some implementations, the plurality ofpredefined events may include the following: (1) expiration of apredetermined period for being in the forced mode; (2) receiving aninput to start one operation; and (3) receiving another input to stopanother operation.

In some implementations, in performing the UL transmission, processor412 may perform certain operations. For instance, processor 412 maydetermine that there is no buffered data to be transmitted in the ULtransmission. Furthermore, processor 412 may perform the UL transmissionof any of the following: (a) a modem medium access control (MAC)padding; (b) a modem layer 2 control data, retransmission data or aninvalid protocol data unit (PDU); and (c) network dummy data. In someimplementations, the modem MAC padding may be configured as afrequency-based transmission parameter or a threshold configuration. Insuch cases, the networking dummy data may include any of the following:(i) a private Internet Protocol (IP) address data; (ii) an IP packetdata designated for a predetermined IP address or a random IP address,with a time-to-live (TTL) value of the IP packet data less than apredefined TTL value; and (iii) a service data designated for apredetermined server.

In some implementations, the special mode may be a background mode. Insuch cases, in transmitting the request in the background mode,processor 412 may perform certain operations. For instance, processor412 may receive an indication of availability of one or more packets ofdata for the UL transmission. Moreover, processor 412 may transmit therequest for the plurality of times in response to receiving theindication.

In some implementations, the special mode may be a background mode. Insuch cases, in transmitting the request in the background mode,processor 412 may perform certain operations. For instance, processor412 may transmit lower-priority data continuously or periodically tomaintain UL transmission grants unless there is higher-priority data tobe transmitted. Additionally, processor 412 may transmit thehigher-priority data, in lieu of the lower-priority data, when thehigher-priority data is available from an application.

In some implementations, the special mode may be an event-triggeredmode. In such cases, in transmitting the request in the event-triggeredmode, processor 412 may perform certain operations. For instance,processor 412 may receive information from one or more informationsources associated with apparatus 410. Additionally, processor 412 maypredict, based on the received information, a need to perform the ULtransmission. Moreover, processor 412 may transmit the request for theplurality of times in response to the predicting.

In some implementations, in predicting the need to perform the ULtransmission, processor 412 may detect at least one of a plurality ofpredefined events based on the received information. In someimplementations, the plurality of predefined events may include thefollowing: (a) detection of a touch of a screen of apparatus 410; (b)activation of or performing of an operation by a gyroscope of apparatus410; (c) activation of or performing of an operation by an accelerometerof apparatus 410; (d) detection of a press of a key on apparatus 410;(e) receiving of an input by another device of apparatus 410; (f)detection of an occurrence of a hardware event with respect to ahardware of apparatus 410; and (g) detection of an occurrence of asoftware flow with respect to a software executed on apparatus 410.

Illustrative Processes

FIG. 5 illustrates an example process 500 in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure. Process 500 may be an exampleimplementation of the proposed schemes described above with respect toimprovement on UE uplink latency in wireless communications inaccordance with the present disclosure. Process 500 may represent anaspect of implementation of features of apparatus 410 and apparatus 420.Process 500 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions asillustrated by one or more of blocks 510, 520 and 530. Althoughillustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks of process 500 may bedivided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, oreliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Moreover, theblocks of process 500 may executed in the order shown in FIG. 5 or,alternatively, in a different order. Process 500 may also be repeatedpartially or entirely. Process 500 may be implemented by apparatus 410,apparatus 420 and/or any suitable wireless communication device, UE,base station or machine type devices. Solely for illustrative purposesand without limitation, process 500 is described below in the context ofapparatus 410 as a UE (e.g., UE 110) and apparatus 420 as a network node(e.g., access point, eNB or gNB) of a wireless network (e.g., a Wi-Fibasic service set (BSS), an NR cell, an LTE cell or a UMTS cell).Process 500 may begin at block 510.

At 510, process 500 may involve processor 412 of apparatus 410 as a UEtransmitting, via transceiver 416 and while apparatus 410 is in aspecial mode, to a network (e.g., via apparatus 420) a request forpermission to perform an UL transmission for a plurality of times. Forinstance, process 500 may involve processor 412 transmitting the requestfor the plurality of times at a frequency higher than a frequency atwhich the request to perform UL transmissions is transmitted to thenetwork when apparatus 410 is in a normal operational mode. Process 500may proceed from 510 to 520.

At 520, process 500 may involve processor 412 receiving, via transceiver416, from the network (e.g., via apparatus 420) a grant for ULtransmission. Process 500 may proceed from 520 to 530.

At 530, process 500 may involve processor 412 performing, viatransceiver 416, the UL transmission to the network (e.g., via apparatus420) in response to receiving the grant.

In some implementations, in transmitting the request, process 500 mayinvolve processor 412 transmitting a scheduling request (SR).

In some implementations, in transmitting the request, process 500 mayinvolve processor 412 transmitting a non-zero buffer status report(BSR).

In some implementations, the special mode may be a forced mode. In suchcases, in transmitting the request in the forced mode, process 500 mayinvolve processor 412 performing certain operations. For instance,process 500 may involve processor 412 entering the forced mode.Additionally, process 500 may involve processor 412 continuouslytransmitting the request for the plurality of times while in the forcedmode without knowledge of any user data available for the ULtransmission. Moreover, process 500 may involve processor 412 exiting,in response to an occurrence of any of a plurality of predefined events,the forced mode to stop the continuously transmitting of the request. Insome implementations, the plurality of predefined events may include thefollowing: (1) expiration of a predetermined period for being in theforced mode; (2) receiving an input to start one operation; and (3)receiving another input to stop another operation.

In some implementations, in performing the UL transmission, process 500may involve processor 412 performing certain operations. For instance,process 500 may involve processor 412 determining that there is nobuffered data to be transmitted in the UL transmission. Furthermore,process 500 may involve processor 412 performing the UL transmission ofany of the following: (a) a modem medium access control (MAC) padding;(b) a modem layer 2 control data, retransmission data or an invalidprotocol data unit (PDU); and (c) network dummy data. In someimplementations, the modem MAC padding may be configured as afrequency-based transmission parameter or a threshold configuration. Insuch cases, the networking dummy data may include any of the following:(i) a private Internet Protocol (IP) address data; (ii) an IP packetdata designated for a predetermined IP address or a random IP address,with a time-to-live (TTL) value of the IP packet data less than apredefined TTL value; and (iii) a service data designated for apredetermined server.

In some implementations, the special mode may be a background mode. Insuch cases, in transmitting the request in the background mode, process500 may involve processor 412 performing certain operations. Forinstance, process 500 may involve processor 412 receiving an indicationof availability of one or more packets of data for the UL transmission.Moreover, process 500 may involve processor 412 transmitting the requestfor the plurality of times in response to receiving the indication.

In some implementations, the special mode may be a background mode. Insuch cases, in transmitting the request in the background mode, process500 may involve processor 412 performing certain operations. Forinstance, process 500 may involve processor 412 transmittinglower-priority data continuously or periodically to maintain ULtransmission grants unless there is higher-priority data to betransmitted. Additionally, process 500 may involve processor 412transmitting the higher-priority data, in lieu of the lower-prioritydata, when the higher-priority data is available from an application.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example process 600 in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure. Process 600 may be an exampleimplementation of the proposed schemes described above with respect toimprovement on UE uplink latency in wireless communications inaccordance with the present disclosure. Process 600 may represent anaspect of implementation of features of apparatus 410 and apparatus 420.Process 600 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions asillustrated by one or more of blocks 610, 620 and 630 as well assub-blocks 612, 614 and 616. Although illustrated as discrete blocks,various blocks of process 600 may be divided into additional blocks,combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desiredimplementation. Moreover, the blocks of process 600 may executed in theorder shown in FIG. 6 or, alternatively, in a different order. Process600 may also be repeated partially or entirely. Process 600 may beimplemented by apparatus 410, apparatus 420 and/or any suitable wirelesscommunication device, UE, base station or machine type devices. Solelyfor illustrative purposes and without limitation, process 600 isdescribed below in the context of apparatus 410 as a UE (e.g., UE 110)and apparatus 420 as a network node (e.g., access point, eNB or gNB) ofa wireless network (e.g., a Wi-Fi BSS, an NR cell, an LTE cell or a UMTScell). Process 600 may begin at block 610.

At 610, process 600 may involve processor 412 of apparatus 410 as a UEtransmitting, via transceiver 416 and while apparatus 410 is in aspecial mode, to a network (e.g., via apparatus 420) a request forpermission to perform an UL transmission for a plurality of times. Forinstance, process 600 may involve processor 412 transmitting the requestfor the plurality of times at a frequency higher than a frequency atwhich the request to perform UL transmissions is transmitted to thenetwork when apparatus 410 is in a normal operational mode. Process 600may proceed from 610 to 620.

At 620, process 600 may involve processor 412 receiving, via transceiver416, from the network (e.g., via apparatus 420) a grant for ULtransmission. Process 600 may proceed from 620 to 630.

At 630, process 600 may involve processor 412 performing, viatransceiver 416, the UL transmission to the network (e.g., via apparatus420) in response to receiving the grant

In some implementations, the special mode may be an event-triggeredmode. In such cases, in transmitting the request in the event-triggeredmode, process 600 may involve processor 412 performing certainoperations as represented by 612, 614 and 616.

At 612, process 600 may involve processor 412 receiving information fromone or more information sources associated with apparatus 410. Process600 may proceed from 612 to 614.

At 614, process 600 may involve processor 412 predicting, based on thereceived information, a need to perform the UL transmission. Process 600may proceed from 614 to 616.

At 616, process 600 may involve processor 412 transmitting the requestfor the plurality of times in response to the predicting.

In some implementations, in predicting the need to perform the ULtransmission, process 600 may involve processor 412 detecting at leastone of a plurality of predefined events based on the receivedinformation. In some implementations, the plurality of predefined eventsmay include the following: (a) detection of a touch of a screen ofapparatus 410; (b) activation of or performing of an operation by agyroscope of apparatus 410; (c) activation of or performing of anoperation by an accelerometer of apparatus 410; (d) detection of a pressof a key on apparatus 410; (e) receiving of an input by another deviceof apparatus 410; (f) detection of an occurrence of a hardware eventwith respect to a hardware of apparatus 410; and (g) detection of anoccurrence of a software flow with respect to a software executed onapparatus 410.

In some implementations, in performing the UL transmission, process 600may involve processor 412 performing certain operations. For instance,process 600 may involve processor 412 determining that there is nobuffered data to be transmitted in the UL transmission. Furthermore,process 600 may involve processor 412 performing the UL transmission ofany of the following: (a) a modem MAC padding; (b) a modem layer 2control data, retransmission data or an invalid PDU; and (c) networkdummy data. In some implementations, the modem MAC padding may beconfigured as a frequency-based transmission parameter or a thresholdconfiguration. In some implementations, the networking dummy data mayinclude any of the following: (i) a private IP address data; (ii) an IPpacket data designated for a predetermined IP address or a random IPaddress, with a TTL value of the IP packet data less than a predefinedTTL value; and (iii) a service data designated for a predeterminedserver.

Additional Notes

The herein-described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or“operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

Further, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/orsingular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate fromthe plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

Moreover, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, ingeneral, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims, e.g.,bodies of the appended claims, are generally intended as “open” terms,e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but notlimited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having atleast,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but isnot limited to,” etc. It will be further understood by those within theart that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation isintended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and inthe absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example,as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may containusage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” tointroduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should notbe construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by theindefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containingsuch introduced claim recitation to implementations containing only onesuch recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductoryphrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as“a” or “an,” e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more;” the same holds true for the use of definitearticles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited,those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number, e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, means at leasttwo recitations, or two or more recitations. Furthermore, in thoseinstances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C,etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the senseone having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “asystem having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not belimited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and Ctogether, etc. In those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” wouldinclude but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, Calone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc. It will be further understood by those withinthe art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting twoor more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, ordrawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities ofincluding one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. Forexample, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include thepossibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various implementationsof the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes ofillustration, and that various modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.Accordingly, the various implementations disclosed herein are notintended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicatedby the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: transmitting, by aprocessor of an apparatus in a special mode, to a network a request forpermission to perform an uplink (UL) transmission for a plurality oftimes; receiving, by the processor, from the network a grant; andperforming, by the processor, the UL transmission to the networkresponsive to receiving the grant, wherein the transmitting of therequest for the plurality of times comprises transmitting the requestfor the plurality of times at a frequency higher than a frequency atwhich the request to perform UL transmissions is transmitted to thenetwork when the apparatus is in a normal operational mode, wherein thespecial mode is a forced mode or a background mode, wherein, responsiveto the special mode being the forced mode, the transmitting of therequest in the forced mode comprises: entering the forced mode;continuously transmitting the request for the plurality of times whilein the forced mode without knowledge of any user data available for theUL transmission; and exiting, responsive to an occurrence of any of aplurality of predefined events, the forced mode to stop the continuouslytransmitting of the request, wherein, responsive to the special modebeing the background mode, the transmitting of the request in thebackground mode comprises: transmitting lower-priority data continuouslyor periodically to maintain UL transmission grants unless there ishigher-priority data to be transmitted; and transmitting thehigher-priority data, in lieu of the lower-priority data, when thehigher-priority data is available from an application.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the transmitting of the request comprises transmittinga scheduling request (SR).
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thetransmitting of the request comprises transmitting a non-zero bufferstatus report (BSR).
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality ofpredefined events comprise: expiration of a predetermined period forbeing in the forced mode; receiving an input to start one operation; andreceiving another input to stop another operation.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the performing of the UL transmission comprises:determining that there is no buffered data to be transmitted in the ULtransmission; and performing the UL transmission of any of: a modemmedium access control (MAC) padding; a modem layer 2 control data,retransmission data or an invalid protocol data unit (PDU); and networkdummy data.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the modem MAC padding isconfigured as a frequency-based transmission parameter or a thresholdconfiguration, and wherein the networking dummy data comprises any of: aprivate Internet Protocol (IP) address data; an IP packet datadesignated for a predetermined IP address or a random IP address, with atime-to-live (TTL) value of the IP packet data less than a predefinedTTL value; and a service data designated for a predetermined server. 7.A method, comprising: transmitting, by a processor of an apparatus in aspecial mode, to a network a request for permission to perform an uplink(UL) transmission for a plurality of times; receiving, by the processor,from the network a grant; and performing, by the processor, the ULtransmission to the network responsive to receiving the grant, whereinthe transmitting of the request for the plurality of times comprisestransmitting the request for the plurality of times at a frequencyhigher than a frequency at which the request to perform UL transmissionsis transmitted to the network when the apparatus is in a normaloperational mode, and wherein the special mode is an event-triggeredmode, and wherein the transmitting of the request in the event-triggeredmode comprises: receiving information from one or more informationsources associated with the apparatus; predicting, based on the receivedinformation, a need to perform the UL transmission; and transmitting therequest for the plurality of times responsive to the predicting, whereinthe performing of the UL transmission comprises: determining that thereis no buffered data to be transmitted in the UL transmission; andperforming the UL transmission of any of: a modem medium access control(MAC) padding; a modem layer 2 control data, retransmission data or aninvalid protocol data unit (PDU); and network dummy data, wherein themodem MAC padding is configured as a frequency-based transmissionparameter or a threshold configuration, and wherein the networking dummydata comprises any of: a private Internet Protocol (IP) address data; anIP packet data designated for a predetermined IP address or a random IPaddress, with a time-to-live (TTL) value of the IP packet data less thana predefined TTL value; and a service data designated for apredetermined server.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the predictingof the need to perform the UL transmission comprises detecting at leastone of a plurality of predefined events based on the receivedinformation.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality ofpredefined events comprise: detection of a touch of a screen of theapparatus; activation of or performing of an operation by a gyroscope ofthe apparatus; activation of or performing of an operation by anaccelerometer of the apparatus; detection of a press of a key on theapparatus; receiving of an input by another device of the apparatus;detection of an occurrence of a hardware event with respect to ahardware of the apparatus; and detection of an occurrence of a softwareflow with respect to a software executed on the apparatus.
 10. Anapparatus, comprising: a processor which, during operation, performsoperations comprising: transmitting, when the apparatus is in a specialmode, to a network a request for permission to perform an uplink (UL)transmission for a plurality of times; receiving from the network agrant; and performing the UL transmission to the network responsive toreceiving the grant, wherein, in transmitting the request for theplurality of times, the processor transmit the request for the pluralityof times at a frequency higher than a frequency at which the request forperform to perform UL transmissions is transmitted to the network whenthe apparatus is in a normal operational mode, wherein the special modeis an event-triggered mode, a forced mode, or a background mode,wherein, responsive to the special mode being the event-triggered mode:in transmitting the request in the event-triggered mode, the processorperforms operations comprising: receiving information from one or moreinformation sources associated with the apparatus; predicting, based onthe received information, a need to perform the UL transmission bydetecting at least one of a plurality of predefined events based on thereceived information; and transmitting the request for the plurality oftimes responsive to the predicting, in performing the UL transmission,the processor performs operations comprising: determining that there isno buffered data to be transmitted in the UL transmission; andperforming the UL transmission of any of: a modem medium access control(MAC) padding; a modem layer 2 control data, retransmission data or aninvalid protocol data unit (PDU); and network dummy data, the modem MACpadding is configured as a frequency-based transmission parameter or athreshold configuration, the networking dummy data comprises any of: aprivate Internet Protocol (IP) address data; an IP packet datadesignated for a predetermined IP address or a random IP address, with atime-to-live (TTL) value of the IP packet data less than a predefinedTTL value; and a service data designated for a predetermined server, andthe plurality of predefined events comprise: detection of a touch of ascreen of the apparatus; activation of or performing of an operation bya gyroscope of the apparatus; activation of or performing of anoperation by an accelerometer of the apparatus; detection of a press ofa key on the apparatus; receiving of an input by another device of theapparatus; detection of an occurrence of a hardware event with respectto a hardware of the apparatus; and detection of an occurrence of asoftware flow with respect to a software executed on the apparatus,wherein, responsive to the special mode being the forced mode: intransmitting the request in the forced mode, the processor performsoperations comprising: entering the forced mode; continuouslytransmitting the request for the plurality of times while in the forcedmode without knowledge of any user data available for the ULtransmission; and exiting the forced mode to stop the continuouslytransmitting of the request, the exiting the forced mode comprisesexiting the forced mode responsive to an occurrence of any of aplurality of predefined events, and the plurality of predefined eventscomprise: expiration of a predetermined period for being in the forcedmode; receiving an input to start one operation; and receiving anotherinput to stop another operation, in performing the UL transmission, theprocessor performs operations comprising: determining that there is nobuffered data to be transmitted in the UL transmission; and performingthe UL transmission of any of: a modem medium access control (MAC)padding; a modem layer 2 control data, retransmission data or an invalidprotocol data unit (PDU); and network dummy data, the modem MAC paddingis configured as a frequency-based transmission parameter or a thresholdconfiguration, and the networking dummy data comprises any of: a privateInternet Protocol (IP) address data; an IP packet data designated for apredetermined IP address or a random IP address, with a time-to-live(TTL) value of the IP packet data less than a predefined TTL value; anda service data designated for a predetermined server, wherein,responsive to the special mode being the background mode: intransmitting the request in the background mode, the processor performsoperations comprising: transmitting lower-priority data continuously orperiodically to maintain UL transmission grants unless there ishigher-priority data to be transmitted; and transmitting thehigher-priority data, in lieu of the lower-priority data, when thehigher-priority data is available from an application.
 11. The apparatusof claim 10, wherein the request comprises a scheduling request (SR) ora non-zero buffer status report (BSR).